Feed-cutter.



No. 723,869. PATENTBD MAR. 31,1903.

A. T. HEGK.

FEED CUTTER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 25 1901. F0 MODEL.

' 9 mmmpm a \llllllllllllllmllllllIIUIIIll IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII UNITEDSTATES" PATENT OFFICE.

ADAM T. HECK, OF FAIRMONT, WEST VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR OF TWO-THIRDS TOALFRED E. HEOK,

OF FARMINGTON, WEST VIRGINIA, AND JEROME D. HECK, OF TENMILE, WESTVIRGINIA.

V FEED-CUTTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 723,869, dated March31, 1 903. Application filed Marohjfi, 19 01 Serial'No. 52,853- (Nomodel.)

T or whom it may cancer-7L:

Be it known that I, ADAM T. HEOK, a citizen of the United States,residing at Fairmont, in the county of Marion and State of WestVirginia, have invented anew and useful Feed-Cutter, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates ,to feed-cutters, and more particularly to thecutting=wheel thereof and to means for varying the width of the trough,the object of the invention being to provide a wheel which will give amost elficient draw-cut and in which the cutters may be adjusted todiiferent angles to change the angle of the cut, a further object of theinvention being to provide means for varying the width of the trough ofthe apparatus as may be desired. I

In the drawings forming a portion of this specification, and in whichlike numerals of referenceindicate similar parts in the several views,Figure 1 is a top plan view of the apparatus, a portion of the troughbeing broken away. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the wheel that carries theknives and splitters. is a detail view of a splitter. Fig. 4 is atransverse section of a knife. Fig. 5 is a detail view showingattachment of knife to cutter- Wheel.

Referring now to the drawings, the present apparatus comprises a trough5, supported in any suitable manner, and at the forward end of which itis cut diagonally, and to the di-' agonal front end is secured acutter-plate 6 against the bottom of the trough. Disposed transverselyof the trough is a crank-shaft 7, having a fly-Wheel 8 at one end and abeltpulley 9, while at the opposite-end is a crank 10 for rotating theshaft. The shaft 7 carries a bevel-gear 11, which meshes with a secondgear 12 on a cutter-shaft 13, which is 'disposed diagonally of thetrough and at right angles to the cutter-plateli at the front endthereof, and on this shaft is mounted the cutter-wheel 14. Thecutter-wheel has spokes 15, which carry the knives and splitters, and

the wheel is the same on both faces, so that shaft for the pur- In thepresent it may be reversed upon the pose hereinafter described.

Fig. 3:

f instance there are shown two knives 16, each of which is pivoted to aspoke adjacent to the outer end of the latter, while the opposite end ofthe knife is taken transversely of an adjacent spoke and projectstherebeyond, this inner end of the knife being provided with a clip17-up0n the proper spoke and which is provided with a set-screw to holdthe knife against pivotal movement. By this means the knife may beclamped in different positions. Each knife has both-side edges beveled;so that it has two cutting edges. There are shown also two splitterswhich are mounted in the same manner asgthe knives and having also clipswhich receive slidably the proper spokes across which the inner ends ofthe splitters are disposed, and thus both the'splitters and the knivesmay be adjusted as may be desired. Each splitter consists of a metalplate having diagonal and parallel slits 18 formed in one or both of itsedges, and the resultant pointsl9 are turned upwardly at right angles tothe face of the wheel to project outwardly therefrom and to split theprotruding ends of the stems which project from the cutter-trough in theoperation of the machine. When one cutting edge of aknife becomesdulled, the knife may be removed from the wheel and reversed andattached to the opposite face of the wheel, the

wheel being of course reversed upon its shaft to bring the knife inproper relation to cutting-blade on the end of the trough.

Projecting upwardly through the bottom of the trough 5 is a feed-rollerdisposed transversely of the trough, and this roller has a band-wheel20, with which is engaged a band or belt 21, engaged also with a wheel22 upon the crank-shaft.

In order that the width of the trough may be varied to correspond todifferent conditions of the material to be'cut, thetrough has a falseside 23, which is pivoted near to the rear end of the trough and at oneside thereof, and this false side may lie against the side of the troughto open the full width of the trough or maybe adjusted to lie diagonallyof the trough, as shown, so that a smaller quantity of material may bepresentthe ed to the knives. This adjustment of the false side alsocorresponds to the adjusted positions of the cutting-knives, theseknives when adjusted to their greatest angle extendin g, of course, onlypart way across the trough when in their cutting positions. Extensionsare also provided for attachment to the bottom of the trough beyond thefeed-roller, so that the material may not be pressed laterally afterpassing beyond the pivoted portion of the false wall. lVith thisconstruction it will be seen that the knives give a draw-cut, and theamount of draw may be increased by swinging the inner ends of the knivesoutwardly.

In practice modifications of the specific construction shown may be madeand any suitable materials and proportions may be used for the variousparts without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is 1. The combination in a feed-cutter, of afeeding-trough, a diagonally-disposed cutting-plate 6 secured to theouter end of the trough, a feed-ro1ler disposed transversely of thetrough, a cranked operating-shaft carried by bearings on the oppositesides of the trough, a belt-wheel on said shaft, means for connectingthe belt-wheel to the feed-roller, a false side arranged within thetrough and adapted for adjusting the bearing to effect the widththereof, said false side terminating at the rear, of the roller, aplurality of extensions, as 25 disposed between the front side of theroller and the cutting-plate 6 and having their front ends arranged inthe planes corresponding to the several positions to which the free endof the false side may be adjusted, a cutter-shaft extending diagonallyacross the trough and earned by bearings thereon, bevel-gears connectingthe cuttershaft to the crank-shaft, a cutter-Wheel carried by thecutter-shaft and having cuttingknives connected pivotally at one end tosaid wheel and provided at their opposite ends with. adjustable clampsencircling the spokes of the wheel and permitting adjustment of theangular position of the knives, and a setscrew carried by each clamp andadapted to engage with and lock the knife in adjusted position.

2. A device of the class described, comprising a cutter-wheel havingknives provided with opposite cutting edges, said knives being adaptedto be mounted upon opposite sides of the cutting-wheel interchangeablyto present their difierent cutting edges, and the wheel being adaptedfor reversible attachment to the machine.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

ADAM T. HECK.

\Vitnesses:

WILLIAM L. PRICKETT, WILLIAM RIDo-wAY.

